This invention relates to optical interconnections and, in particular, to a means for connecting optical components on a circuit board to optical fibers mounted in a backplane.
Large scale interconnection of elements on circuit packs is typically done by inserting the packs in shelves so that the edge of the circuit pack, which includes appropriate connectors thereon, makes electrical contact with a backplane at the far end of the shelves. In present and future systems, the need is increasing for providing optical, as well as electrical, interconnection of these circuit packs.
At the present time, the optical component is usually mounted somewhere on the interior of the board surface with optical fibers coupled thereto. The fibers are then interconnected through the backplane by means of a connector coupled to the edge of the circuit pack adjacent to the electrical connector (see, e.g., R. E. Weiss, "A Family of Connectors for Circuit Pack to Backplane Optical Interconnection," Proceedings of the 9th International Electronics Packaging Conference, Vol. 2, pp. 1033-1042, September 1989). Such systems should be more economical to manufacture if the fiber routing over the circuit pack were eliminated.
Prior proposals have been made for connecting optical fibers to components mounted on printed circuit boards (see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,537 issued to Raymer, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,440 issued to Hoffer). However, it does not appear that workers in the art previously have addressed the problems of connecting fibers through a backplane to an optical component mounted on a circuit pack so that the connection is made when the circuit pack is positioned within its shelf.